Ancient Gnomish
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Ancient Gnomish was the language spoken by the gnome race before they adopted the common tongue as a standard language. Only a small proportion of the language is known as it has been translated by Anita, a gnome. Gnomish is no longer a widely spoken language and gnomes have mostly forgotten it, though the gnome glider service write their locations in Gnomish. The only known person to speak exclusively in Ancient Gnomish in the present day was Hazelmere.[1]
Players can learn a small proportion of the language by reading the translation book given by Anita.
Translation book lexicon
A
- ando - gate
- andra - city
- arpos - rocks
- ataris - cow
C
- cef - threat
- cheray - lazy
- Cinqo - King
- Cinqa - Queen[2]
- cretor - bucket
E
- eis - me
- es - a
- et - and
- eto - will
G
- Gal - all
- gandius - jungle
- gentis - leaf
- gomondo - branch
- gutus - banana
H
- har - old
- harij - harpoon
- hewo - grass
I
- imindus - quest
- ip - you
- irno - translate
K
- kai - boat
- kar - no
- ko - sail
L
- lauf - eye
- laquinay - common sense
- lemanto - man
- lemantolly - stupid man[a]
- lovos - gave
M
- meriz - kill
- meso - came
- mi - I
- mina - time(s)
- mond - seal
- mos - coin
P
- por - long
- prit - with
- priw - tree
- pro - to
Q
- Qui - guard
- Quir - guardian
R
- rentos - agility
S
- sarko - Begone
- sind - big
T
- ta - the
- tuzo - open
U
- Umesco - Soul
- Undri - lands
- Notes
The suffix -lly / -olly means stupid. For example, lemantolly is stupid man, laufolly is stupid eye, and gutusolly is stupid banana.
Location names
From the gnome glider menu:
| English Name | Gnome Name | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| The Grand Tree | Ta Quir Priw | The Guardian Tree |
| White Wolf Mountain | Sindarpos | Big Rocks |
| Digsite | Lemanto Andra | Man City |
| Al Kharid | Kar-Hewo | No-Grass |
| Karamja | Gandius | Jungle |
| Feldip Hills | Lemantolly Undri | Stupid Man Lands |
| Ape Atoll | Ookookolly Undri | Stupid Monkey Lands |
- The fabled Gnomish city of Arposandra translates as Rocks city.
- The Galarpos Mountains translate to All rocks.
- Atarisundri, the site of the Battle of Atarisundri, translates to Cowlands.
Partial translations
Page 13 of My notes has a Gnomish entry that can be speculatively translated with available documentation.
| Original | Direct Translation |
|---|---|
| Laufata ki Glough ki Ta Quir Priw Undo eso, Tolly, gnomo kar is Glough hamo sarko pro Arposandra Qua! |
Look to Glough at the Grand Tree [Undo] go, fool, gnome no but Glough [hamo] begone to Arposandra [Qua]! |
The following is a table of speculated words and meanings for this message.
| Ancient Gnomish | Speculative Translation | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Laufata | "Look" or "Watch" | From lauf (eye) + likely an action form (like "observe") |
| ki | "to" or "at" | Common connector |
| Glough | Glough | Proper noun (name) |
| ki Ta Quir Priw | "at the Grand Tree" | Ta (the), Quir (guardian), Priw (tree) |
| Undo | Possibly "below" or "under" | Unknown, could be related to Undri (lands) |
| eso | Guess, Possibly "go", "depart", or "then" | Likely tied to movement or transition, based on the -so verb pattern (compare meso = "came") |
| Tolly | "Fool" | Based on lemantolly (stupid man), likely an insult or dismissal |
| gnomo | "Gnome" | |
| kar | "No" | Negation |
| is | "But" | From notes |
| Glough | Glough | Proper noun (name) |
| hamo | Unknown | |
| sarko | "Begone" | From notes |
| pro | "To" | Directional |
| Arposandra | "Rock" + "City" | Known city name |
| Qua | Unknown | Likely related to "Qui" (guard) |
The scrawled note from Monkey Madness II contains a text in ancient gnomish, which is then translated by Anita, yielding the translated note. Here they are shown side by side:
| Original | Translation |
|---|---|
| Glough, Sasoine ut polis laquin, is ta lemonas tandus lovos eis ta vimus. Mi cura tutas encandum matorem pro mekum mi pos kriw ipi kosa. Kom prima, ipi lova pro ... |
Glough, It took some persuading, but the monk has finally shown me the route. I have managed to find a replacement pilot to fill my post while we are away. At dawn, we head to... |
By comparing the two versions, the following translations of individual words could be speculated on:
| Ancient Gnomish | Speculative Translation | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| sasoine | took | possibly 'saso' as the infinitive? compare 'tuzo' → 'open'; 'lovos' → 'gave' |
| ut | some | |
| polis | persuasive | |
| laquin | sense | compare 'laquinay' → 'common sense' 'polis laquin' could be rendered as 'persuasive sense' |
| is | but | |
| lemonas | monk | compare 'lemanto' → 'man' |
| tandus | finally | |
| vimus | route | |
| cura | have | or 'managed' |
| tutas | managed | or 'have' |
| encandum | replacement | or 'pilot' |
| matorum | pilot | or 'replacement' |
| mekum | fill | |
| mi | my | 'I' in the translation book |
| pos | post | compare 'arpos' → 'rock' |
| kriw | while | |
| ipi | we | compare 'ip' → 'you' |
| kosa | away | |
| lova | (to) head | |
| kom | at | |
| prima | dawn |
Glough in Monkey Madness II appears to cast a form of teleportation spells in Ancient Gnomish. The first is cast to teleport himself a short distance inside the cage with the player (disguised at the time as Kruk), suggesting the spell teleports the caster to where their eyes are focused upon. The second is cast after Glough says he is going to look for Assistant Le Smith, who at the time was on Ape Atoll, making the city ("andra") Marim.
| Original | Direct Translation | Potential Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Umesc pro ta lauf! | Soul to the eye! | Move my soul to where I am looking! |
| Umesc pro ta andra! | Soul to the city! | Move my soul to the city! |
Translated words
These words have inferred meanings from other translations.
- atarischeray[b][c]
- "lazy cow" , ataris (cow) + cheray (lazy)
- is[d]
- "but"
- minahar[b]
- "Time old" , Mina (time) + har (old)
- minapor[b]
- "Time Long" , Mina (time) + por (long)
- ookooko (or ookook)
- "monkey", from "Ookookolly Undri" (stupid monkey lands)
Untranslated words
These words are featured in-game, but have no confirmed or only speculative translation.
- egramentos[e]
- em[e]
- emeto[e]
- gan[e]
- hamo[d]
- ipmesi[b]
- Speculatively "Ip = You" and "mesi" is similar to "meso" which is "came". Mesi may be a similar verb such as "Go" "Or going" Hazelmere may be telling the player who has just stated they do not understand him. "You are going" or "You are going to". As he immediately begins speaking telepathically with them.
- The word is used in two different places in the same way, with Hazelmere sighing and saying "Ipmesi human" before casting the mind melding spell on a person for the first time, possibly making it part of the spell. Alternatively, it may be an insult, with Hazelmere expressing his exasperation with humans not understanding the language.
- lamiten[e]
- "Lam- root appears in lemanto (man)
- laufata[d][f]
- "Eye [Unknown]", Lauf (eye) + ata (unknown)
- megal[b]
- Stated as an exclamation (Megal!)
- mesi[b]
- ki[d]
- Is contextually used like "to" or "at"
- qua[d][g]
- rei[e]
- undo[d][h]
- umesc[i]
- su[j]
- tana[j]
- en[j]
- tania[j]
- Notes
Trivia
- The only gnome in Gielinor who communicates almost exclusively in Ancient Gnomish is the elderly Hazelmere, though this is by choice, as he is proficient in the common tongue as well, but deems it "rudimentary" and "uncivilised".[3]
- In the quest The Grand Tree, the player must translate a letter from Ancient Gnomish using the translation book.
- One of the gnome children can say to the player "Es ataris eto meriz ip prit es gutus!" which translates to "A cow will kill you with a banana!".